The blog of Ben Pavlovich

4 Tactics to get your Bodybuilding Motivation Back

Getting back into working out is tough. It’s not fun, you’re unmotivated, and the progress doesn’t seem to speak for itself right away. I took off close to a year from bodybuilding and had an entire full body transformation. Although it was not in the direction I wanted. My belly blew out to 38 inches and my pectoral muscles began to resemble man boobs. Not fun! Below I have added what tactics i’ve used to get my bodybuilding motivation back and stay focused on my goals.

1. Create Pain

Tony Robbins talks about the first step in changing a habit requires creating so much pain you have no other choice than following suit. Luckily for me when I measured my stomach and saw 38 inches I couldn’t believe it at first. After a second time and having someone else confirm the accuracy of it i almost puked. That alone made me drop simple carbs (breads, sweets, etc) almost entirely. 2 weeks later I jumped on keto and had my motivation back.

2. Having a goal bigger than life itself

After seeing how far I fell I wanted to get back to six-pack nirvana. The summer was coming up in a few months and I had enough time to make some pretty significant physical changes in myself. In addition I have always wanted to create a fitness information product and be a cover model. Both of these goals were big and required I be in tip top shape. I was working out for something bigger than myself.

3. Every workout counts

Instead of believing it takes weeks to see real progress in exercise, I immediately saw enormous changes. Even after my first workout in months I felt like I had gained 20lbs of muscle in just an hour. I walked around with focus and had passion for every lift. I didn’t want to leave the gym and consistently found my body tiring before my motivation did. Every lift became a drop set and I lost count of both my reps and sets. Create a huge positive outlook on yourself and you will always be in better shape than the 220lb 8% bodybuilder working out next to you.

4. Pictures and Videos

When I first became disgusted with my body I immediately began to take pictures. I knew this wasn’t my “real” physique so I wasn’t embarrassed. If anything making it look worse would only make the after picture look that much better. Documenting your progress will let you see how far you’ve come in those future dips of motivation you may experience. I have never been obsessive enough to count calories so this is my 80/20 of recording my progress.

Conclusion

So there you have it! Hopefully some of this helps you out and if not then get a workout partner. That is probably the easiest way to force yourself to create a workout habit. I themed this around creating personal motivation but its much easier to have someone else keeping tabs on you. Good Luck and please share whatever you use to get your bodybuilding motivation back below.